#25for2025 – Finding Tomorrow’s Stars – 16-14

Between now and 2025, the top players of today will begin to make way for the next generation of super star talents. This list will attempt to pick out some of those players, in no particular order, and establish what will make them the best around.

Coming through as a teenager is a tough task for any player, but to command the goal as Alban Lafont has is nothing short of miraculous. Having played nearly 100 games at 19, Lafont is starting to attract interest from big clubs, with capital city club Paris Saint-Germain potentially readying a bid for the French Under-20 international. He looks ready to take up the mantle of France number one when Hugo Lloris is deemed too old to continue playing for the national team, and with the way he has started, that could be a major boost to his national side.

The easiest way to illustrate the ability of Brazilian winger Malcom is the fact that manager Gus Poyet said he would not have joined the club had Malcom been sold before he arrived. Playing with pace and skill is often a trait with Brazilian players and that is very much the case with the former Cornthians man looking a threat in almost every game he plays for the French club. He is yet to play for his country but that looks an inevitability should he continue his development and potentially make the step up to a bigger club, with PSG, Liverpool and Bayern all readying summer moves.

Benfica have had something of a dissapointing season, with rivals Porto stealing the league title, but one player that has not dissapointed is Andrija Zivkovic. The Serbian winger has been part of a tactical overhaul at the Lisbon club that has made them more solid defensively but far faster in the counter attack, something that suits the former Partizan player. Unlike the other two players in this instalment, Zivkovic has become a regular in his national side, having made his debut at the tender age of 17 and looks likely to lead his side into the future as one of their key assets.

Similar to: Leroy Sane, Angel Di Maria, Robert Pires

What do you think of these three future stars? Do they have the ability to be some of the best in the business come 2025? Let me know in the forums!